TY - JOUR
T1 - The promise (and pitfalls) of public health policy surveillance
AU - Hodge, James
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Though public health policy surveillance is an integral tool in correlating the law to scientifically based public health law studies, drawing accurate legal conclusions from collected data can be challenging. Data may be of poor quality, inaccessible to law and policy makers, or inapplicable to other jurisdictions over time and place. As Burris et al. (2016) advocate, modern, sophisticated, and interactive data collection systems would render more precise legal analysis tied to public health improvements. Although policy surveillance is promising, public health officials, health care providers, attorneys, and researchers must be skilled and prepared to successfully navigate and resolve potential pitfalls for its benefits to be fully realized. Among the significant challenges related to policy surveillance are: (1) timing; (2) agenda setting; (3) predictable misuse; and (4) politics inherent in a federalist public health legal infrastructure. As public health data infrastructure is developed, better legal approaches must be simultaneously crafted to achieve optimal public health outcomes.
AB - Though public health policy surveillance is an integral tool in correlating the law to scientifically based public health law studies, drawing accurate legal conclusions from collected data can be challenging. Data may be of poor quality, inaccessible to law and policy makers, or inapplicable to other jurisdictions over time and place. As Burris et al. (2016) advocate, modern, sophisticated, and interactive data collection systems would render more precise legal analysis tied to public health improvements. Although policy surveillance is promising, public health officials, health care providers, attorneys, and researchers must be skilled and prepared to successfully navigate and resolve potential pitfalls for its benefits to be fully realized. Among the significant challenges related to policy surveillance are: (1) timing; (2) agenda setting; (3) predictable misuse; and (4) politics inherent in a federalist public health legal infrastructure. As public health data infrastructure is developed, better legal approaches must be simultaneously crafted to achieve optimal public health outcomes.
KW - Assessment
KW - Policy
KW - Public health law
KW - Research
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85003443867&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85003443867&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1215/03616878-3665976
DO - 10.1215/03616878-3665976
M3 - Comment/debate
C2 - 27531942
AN - SCOPUS:85003443867
SN - 0361-6878
VL - 41
SP - 1175
EP - 1183
JO - Journal of health politics, policy and law
JF - Journal of health politics, policy and law
IS - 6
ER -